Swedish mobile-payments company iZettle has launched services in the UK through an exclusive deal with EE, the country’s biggest network operator.

Under the arrangement, iZettle’s mini chip-card readers will be available from any of EE’s (London, UK) 297 stores or via the operator’s telesales channel.

The readers can be connected to smartphones and tablets, turning the devices into mobile-payment terminals that will accept transactions via Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Diners Club.

iZettle (Stockholm, Sweden) is pitched at small businesses and tradespeople, such as plumbers, electricians and builders.

The company says the service could eliminate the scourge of late-paying customers. It reckons that UK plumbers, electricians and builders are currently owed about £283 million and that an average tradesperson spends about 36 days a year on chasing overdue customer bills.

Cost issues have discouraged 45% of small firms from accepting card payments, according to iZettle, but 71% of them would accept credit or debit cards “if there was a low-cost, low-hassle way of doing so”.

iZettle says there are no lengthy sign-up processes, set-up fees, monthly fees or minimum spending requirements with its service.

Merchants are charged 2.75% of each payment and must pay £20 for a reader.

The introduction of a full commercial service follows recent testing. “We are very excited about our full commercial launch in the UK and the positive results of our Beta test with 4,000 users over the past six months,” said Jacob de Geer, iZettle’s chief executive, in a statement.

iZettle claims its service is used by more than 75,000 small businesses and individuals in six countries.